STRICTLY COME DANCING, BBC1, 7pm
THE new series starts tonight but this show, known for its glitter and laughter, will take a more thoughtful turn this evening when the dancers remember the late Bruce Forsyth.
They’ll pay tribute to Brucie in their opening routine, and I’m sure he’d demand they do it with some pizazz and big grins on their faces.
After the dancing, things get serious when everyone finds out who they’ll be paired with for the series.
I’m sure the professional dancers have learned by now to mask their disappointment when they see they have been matched up with the less svelte and graceful celebs.
Who will be smiling bravely when they learn they’re paired with little Susan Calman, or the Reverend Richard Coles?
Some might be relieved to find they have Debbie McGee, a ballet lover, or Alexandra Burke, a singer.
Yet we all know the great entertainment and spirit comes from those who are not the safe bets – and so I’m looking forward to Calman and the Reverend getting their glad rags on.
9/11: THE GROUND ZERO UNDERWORLD, MORE 4, 8pm
THIS show begins an evening of programmes on More 4 marking the anniversary of 9/11. It tells the story of the emergency workers – “first responders” as they’re always called in America – who ran into the towers to rescue people.
It focuses on the efforts to pull people from the rubble and the choking white dust, and we also hear from members of the public who got involved in these heroic efforts, and how the trauma has stayed with them.
The show is followed by a repeat of The Falling Man, a very painful documentary about a photograph of a man who jumped from the tower, and of the photographer’s efforts to identify him and tell his story, so that he would be more to the public and media than just a distressing image.
We conclude with 9/11: The Firemen’s Story where we hear directly from New York’s surviving firemen who lost 343 of their colleagues in the attack.
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